UPDATE:
Wrestlemania 34 spoilers HERE for Braun Strowman’s HIGHLY UNLIKELY partner and the match outcome.
ORIGINAL:
WWE Wrestlemania 34 Spoilers follow.
WWE Reveals Who Braun Strowman’s Partner Is For Match Vs. The Bar For The Raw Tag Team Championship Belts!
On Friday March 30, 2018 this is the photo and a blurb that was on WWE’s Wrestlemania 34 sub-site hyping the Raw WWE tag team championship match at Wrestlemania 34.
- Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Braun Strowman and a partner of his choosing
…The Monster Among Men has wreaked havoc on everybody and everything from the moment he came to Monday Night Raw, but who will the one-man wrecking crew select to be his partner? With the glory of a potential WrestleMania moment hanging in the balance, will The Gift of Destruction be willing to work together with anyone? Will The Bar once again rise to the occasion?….
As of 12:15 a.m. on Saturday March 31, 2018 the same link now had this picture with the title and the paragraph above changed with the rest of the WWE article remaining the same.
- Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Braun Strowman & Batista
…The Monster Among Men has wreaked havoc on everybody and everything from the moment he came to Monday Night Raw. Why did the one-man wrecking crew select Batista as his partner on the last Monday Night Raw before the Show of Shows? With the glory of a potential WrestleMania moment hanging in the balance can The Gift of Destruction co-exist with the returning Animal? Will The Bar once again rise to the occasion this time against an Indestructible Force and the Immovable Object?….
Within an hour, 411 Mania reports that the page contents reverted to the original picture and blurb.
As you can imagine, social media exploded earlier today with many skeptical fans pointing to this as fake news while others pointed out the tattoo on Batista’s arm in the image was the most recent version of it, last tweaked in November 2017, as confirmed by Batista at the time on his Instagram account.
As many know by now, the original plan for Wrestlemania, to be announced on the upcoming Raw, was that a returning Rey Mysterio was to team with Strowman in a big and small team. However, Mysterio was not cleared by WWE medical staff due to a recent injury confirmed by Mysterio:
- “Unfortunately I just suffered a torn bicep three weeks ago. I opted not to get surgery. It’s a full tear, but I’m just going to sit back, do some therapy for it and hopefully I’ll be back in the next month or two.“
The “dirt sheets” have been active in the early hours of today working their connections over Batista’s WWE homecoming. The coverage is all over the place including the WWE planning that went into it including the fact that Batista was not WWE’s second choice behind Mysterio.
Wrestling Inc. reports that Plan B was actually Hulk Hogan in a redemption play and a passing of the torch from one big man to another. Strowman would protect the 64 year old Hogan in the match as, technically, Strowman doesn’t need a partner considering how he’s been booked of late. However, Hogan too didn’t pass a WWE physical.
Bleacher Report further reports that the Batista inclusion was the Animal’s idea, one he brought to WWE VP of Talent Relations, and friend, Triple H. The plan appears to be to cross promote Batista with WWE as his next movie Avengers Infinity War hits theatres only a few weeks after Wrestlemania on April 23, 2018. It is expected to be smash hit and possibly surpass Black Panther’s recent stunning box office success.
The type of contract Batista has signed is not known, but as recently as a few months ago the UK Sun reported that he had this to say about a potential return to WWE:
- “I would love to go back, but the reason I have not gone back is because I don’t want to do a one off. I want to go and I want to wrestle. I want to do some house shows (untelevised live events), I want to be a part of the program and I love it.”
PWInsider in turn has suggested the plan is for Batista to cost Strowman the match and feud with him heading into Backlash PPV on May 6, 2018. This would also align with what Forbes had reported recently that WWE was looking for a way for The Bar to retain the straps at Wrestlemania and transition Strowman into a “top tier feud with a superstar who is well known beyond the wrestling circles“.
Interesting.
